Ponder on this

My poem “I’m Not Listening” was written in the context of personal relationships. (The poem appears at the end of Part Five of A Moment of Time; Caitlin has left a relationship with a man whose dark side surfaced after his charming veneer wore away.)

However, the process of disillusionment (gaining freedom from illusions) is not confined to romantic entanglements. Throughout Caitlin’s journey, she must develop the ability, and the strength, to see through (and let go of) illusions—the cherished beliefs about people, events, leaders, and institutions that she had accepted as true, hoped were true, wanted to be true.

Sometimes Caitlin’s wishful thinking clouded her judgment; sometimes the deception by others was intentional; sometimes erroneous information had been passed from person to person, and the beliefs were collective ones, shared by large numbers of people. (Often, others have a stake in the continued acceptance of particular beliefs.)

As an attorney, Caitlin was accustomed to sifting through evidence and assessing competing arguments and spotting viable claims. She needed to learn to apply those skills to all parts of her life. She needed to learn discernment.

As do we all.

“I’m Not Listening”

I’m not listening
anymore
to what you say
about who you are.
“I’m not like that”
you insisted.
“I’d never do that”
And I enlisted.
But you are
and you did
and I’m the fool
who believed
in the illusion you created
when all along
I knew
and waited
for truth to reveal
what you fought hard to conceal.
I’m not listening
to promises and lies.
I’m seeing clearly
through my own eyes.